In his mission statement he wrote something about the futility of living past a certain age. he claimed that he had lived a full life and that he was content with his experiences, in so many words.

i get the impression he wanted to be sure that he had control of his life ending, and that, as long as he was going to die he wanted to do something meaningful with his death. you know, i do not see this being a route i'm going to take, but there is something intrinsically sane about asserting such purposeful control over one's fate.

i took his act in a very personal way, even though i did not know him other than informally. i felt like i was grabbed by the shirt and had my eyes stared into.

what i am the most affected by, frankly, is not malachi's act, but the act of the media ignoring it. this to me is far more infuriating and offensive than anything. we live in a cold and heartless culture. i think his statement is as much a response to that reality as their response is a proof of it.

... as the media prepares us for sending more troops into iraq.

here is a website that has been put together by local friends of malachi. there are tools there for getting out his message.

www.iheardyoumalachi.org